Download Ch 5 - TeacherWeb

Ch 5
Ancient India and Persia
I. India and Persia
A. Indus River Valley Civilization
1. Civilization began there around 2500 BC
2. Two important cities that housed thousands of people were Harappa & Mohenjo Daro.
3. How they lived
a. Had a system of writing that has still not been decoded
b. The people were farmers, made metal crafts and pottery, wove cotton, and traded
and sold goods.
c. Statues that may represent gods and goddesses suggest they were polytheistic.
d. Archaeological remains reveal complex architecture and city planning similar to
modern cities. There was a large public bath and even garbage collection.
e. Harappan civilization vanished suddenly around 1700 BC possibly because of some
type of natural disaster such as a monsoon, flood, or earthquake.
B. The Aryans Arrive and Culture Spreads
1. A group of people called the Aryans migrated to the Indus River Valley around 1500 BC.
2. They spoke Sanskrit.
3. They were nomadic herders who rode horse-drawn chariots.
4. The main thing they left behind was literature in their language of Sanskrit. One example
is the Vedas or “Books of Knowledge”. They describe many battles among Aryan groups
and even contests between gods and humans.
5. Social organization
a. Highest position in society was held by priests and teachers called brahmins.
b. Warriors, kings and other rulers held the second position.
c. Artisans, traders, and merchants followed
d. Serfs, or sudras, held the lowest position in society
C. The Persian Empire
1. Persians, led by Cyrus II, conquered the lands of the Babylonians, Lydians, and Egyptians,
constructing an empire stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indus River Valley.
a. Cyrus was thought to be a tolerant ruler.
b. It is believed that he freed the Hebrews from slavery in Babylon and ordered the
rebuilding of their temple in Jerusalem.
2. Darius I, who followed Cyrus brought the Persian Empire to India.
3. Zoroastrianism
a. A Persian religion founded by the prophet Zoroaster in what is today Iran.
b. Zoroaster taught that there was one god who was supreme and the enemy of evil.
c. Modern-day followers of Zoroaster are called Parsis due to their Persian ancestry.
D. The First Indian or Mauryan Empire
1. Established by Chandragupta Maurya about 320 BC.
2. After many military successes, even a rebellion against the Greeks, he left his life of luxury
to become a monk.
3. Under his grandson, Ashoka, the Mauryan empire had a strong group of civil service
workers, a powerful army & an army of spies to report on what was going on in the empire.
E. Arts and Sciences
1. The Gupta Empire began around 320 BC and lasted for about 200 years.
2. During this time India made great achievements in astronomy & mathematics, developing
the number system we use today, with 9 digits, zero and the decimal.
3. Sculpture & architecture flourished, with construction of elaborate stone temples
4. Textiles – silk, cotton and linen – became valuable exports
II. Hinduism
A. Seeds of Belief
1. Hinduism is the main religion in India and one of the world’s oldest religions.
2. It is different from many other religions because it has no founder.
3. It probably started with religious beliefs of the Aryans
4. The four Vedas
a. the oldest of the four is the Rig Veda.
b. It is a collection of more than 1,000 hymns dedicated to Aryan gods that include
spiritual beliefs in the power of nature.
c. Faithful Hindus recite verses from the Vedas every day.
B. Gods and Goddesses
1. Brahma, the creator
2. Vishnu, the preserver, who maintains dharma, the order of all things
3. Shiva, the destroyer, destroys what is old and begins what is new
4. Krishna, a form of Vishnu who came to live on earth
5. Ganga Mai, the Ganges River goddess who gives water the power to clean and purify
C. Seven Truths and Reincarnation
1. Hindus believe in 7 essential doctrines or truths
a. these include peaceful living, freedom of thought, respect for nature and animals,
and becoming one with Brahman
b. they also believe that good and bad actions will one day affect us.
2. Reincarnation
a. a process through which a person goes from one life to the next
b. after a person dies, he or she is reborn into a new life
c. if they have lived a good life, their lifetime actions or kharma is good and their rebirth
is good.
d. The goal of a good life for a Hindu is becoming one with Brahman.
D. Way of Life
1. In India every Hindu is a member of a lifelong social group called a caste that determined what
jobs you could do and even who you could marry.
2. The highest caste was that of priests and teachers, followed by rulers and warriors, then farmers
and merchants.
3. The lowest castes were servants of all others and sometimes treated as untouchables because
they did work that no one else was willing to do. This discrimination became illegal in the
1950’s.
4. Many members of the highest castes are vegetarians due to respect for other living things.
III. Buddhism
A. Siddhartha Gautama, born around 563 BC, came to be known as the Buddha or Enlightened One. He
was the son of a wealthy ruler who left his sheltered life in the palace to seek understanding and simple
living.
B. He joined a group of monks who fasted and practiced meditation, believing that by giving up what the
body needs they would better understand what the spirit needs.
C. One day, while meditating near the town of Bodh Gaya, he realized that all people had the power within
them to be free from suffering, and became enlightened. He taught that all people could achieve
enlightenment, a state of pure goodness.
D. Four and Eight
1. The Four Noble Truths
a. Suffering is part of life for all people
b. People suffer because they want so many things
c. If they can free themselves from wanting so many things, they will not suffer
d. They can free themselves from wants & suffering by following the Eightfold Path
2. The Eightfold Path
a. Recommends that people develop wisdom, morality, and meditation
b. Recommends actions, efforts and ways of thinking that help develop these qualities